Rise of the Apes is a summer blockbuster again! Having originally moved the half 'Ape' prequel/half reboot from it's June 24th date to the crowded but lucrative Thanksgiving weekend on November 23rd, 20th Century Fox have switched dates for the second time and the movie will now open August 5th. Fox commented on their
twitter account that the new date pushes Apes as the last big event movie of the summer and now the movie is less than five months away, I guess we can expect a marketing campaign to finally get underway as all we've seen so far is an
Ape-less still of James Franco. Rise of the Apes is an origin story set in present day San Francisco, where mans own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.
James Franco leads as the scientist responsible for the ape uprising and who initially takes Caesar (aka the first super intelligent ape that rises against the humans) home to protect him for his rival doctors. Francos desperate desire to cure Alzheimers is in the hope to end his fathers suffering from the diseaase (
John Lithgow). WETA vet
Andy Serkis reunites with the company that transformed him into Gollum and King Kong and will motion-cap Caesar, marking a shift in the series as it moves into CGI rather than man in suit apes.
Freida Pinto, whose career is blossoming post-Slumdog Millionaire (she was a focal point in Woody Allens You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, and has worked with Julian Schnabel and Tarsem Singh since) is also on board as a primatologist and former Spooks actor
David Oyelowois Steve Jacobs, a member of the facilitys board of directors who announces phase 2, clinical trials.
Brian Cox has a role too.
Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) directed from a script by
Rick Jaffa &
Amanda Silver writers of The Relic.
Meanwhile Fox have also pushed back David Gordon Green's second feature of 2011 after next month's Your Highness - delaying the release of his R-rated comedy The Sitter starring Jonah Hill and Sam Rockwell. The movie which finds Hill's exhausting night babysitting three kids next door was previous set to open August 5th (now occupied by Apes) and it will now open in December.